Skates
by CanaryCry
Summary: Dick takes Wally ice-skating for the first time, in Venice.


**A/N: Based on a prompt from tumblr user robin-red-r. Inspired by a bit of personal experience, though my first time skating while in Venice occurred with friends rather than a cute boy :)**

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Wally was pretty sure it was against the rules to use zeta technology for frivolous purposes, but that hadn't stopped him from letting Dick take him out on a date. They were in Venice during Carnevale. How could he say no to _that_?

Dick was positively beaming with excitement as he pulled Wally through the crowded streets full of merry masked people. They'd stopped by a shop to pick up masks of their own a few minutes ago; Dick now wore a delicate lace mask in a deep blue that made his eyes practically glow beneath the strings of light draped over every walkway, while Wally had grabbed a papier mache one painted with a red-and-yellow diamond pattern. He'd almost picked up a Phantom of the Opera mask, but Dick had pointed out that the warm air from his nose would probably condense in the cold and become trapped in the mask. Gross.

"Dude, where are we going?" Wally asked as they weaved through the most crowded footbridge he had ever seen in his life.

"You'll see," Dick said unhelpfully.

"Will there be food?"

"Maybe later."

Any further conversation was impossible, as a large group of drunk people sauntered by, singing at the top of their lungs. Wally could only make out a word here and there, but Dick was doubled over laughing so he guessed the song was probably crude in the extreme.

As they continued walking, the crowds thinned out and the temperature dropped without the heat of so many bodies pressing in on them.

"The weather report said it might snow tonight," Dick said brightly as the street opened up to reveal an outdoor ice-skating rink. "You ever skated before?"

"No." Wally was generally too clumsy for that kind of thing. He hadn't been able to ride his bike without training wheels until he was about nine and had never gotten the hang of rollerblading. Ice-skating had been out of the question entirely. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Dick scoffed and dragged Wally over to some kind of tent where a man was handing out bright orange skates. "It'll be fine. I'll teach you."

Wally hung back a little while Dick chattered happily with the man in Italian, eventually coming away with two pairs of ice-skates. That really was the most obnoxious orange Wally had ever seen, even more so than the orange he saw in the mirror every day.

"Look, you match!" Dick teased, shoving a pair into Wally's hands with a grin.

"I hate you so much."

Dick shoved him down on a bench. "Put on the damn skates, West."

"How will I walk to the rink, though?"

"You can walk on ice-skates just fine if you're careful," Dick replied, flopping down beside him and toeing off his boots. "You have my permission to hold onto me if you really can't manage that."

"You're such an angel," Wally muttered, kicking off his own shoes. Dick had already gotten his skates on and was in the middle of strapping himself into them. Apparently Wally was taking too long for his taste, as he tightened the Velcro straps and fastened them for Wally the instant he had his feet in.

"Come on." Dick leapt to his feet. "Up." The gloved hand he held out caught a snowflake, making both boys look up. Little white flecks tumbled leisurely down from the inky sky, most of them dissipating before they reached ground level.

Okay, this was pretty cool. Wally took Dick's proffered hand, letting the acrobat pull him to his feet. Wally wobbled for a second before he found his balance. Huh, the little shit had been right about the skates. Dick gave him an obnoxious grin as if he had just been reading his mind, and offered his arm.

"Can't have you falling over before we even get to the ice, can we?"

Wally linked his arm through Dick's. "Admit it, you just wanna keep touching me."

Dick didn't respond, biting down on his lip in a futile attempt to stop smiling, and led Wally to the edge of the ice. The instant they stepped out onto the ice, Dick cackled and skated away.

Wally tried to follow, but his feet slipped and he had to grab onto the rail to stop himself from falling. "That wasn't very nice, Dick!" he shouted. A few people laughed quietly at him.

Dick, however, zoomed up behind him, planted a kiss on his cheek and escaped with a loud, "Ha!"

"Hilarious," Wally muttered, though he couldn't bring himself to feel angry when Dick was flitting around and laughing so freely without it being an intimidation tactic against a bunch of jerks trying to kill him. He put one foot in front of the other, hand gripping the rail, and finally found a decent rhythm that made him confident enough to let go and move a little faster.

That had been a mistake.

Wally's feet slid out from under him, his arms windmilling in the empty air, and he fell right on his ass with a yelp. Dick skated past, executed the most _unfairly graceful turn ever_, and headed back to him.

"You okay?" he asked. A snowflake landed on his eyelashes, forcing him to blink it off.

"My ass hurts."

Dick held out his hands. "Come on. Up with you."

"So now you're gonna help me?" Wally grumbled as Dick helped him up.

"Eh, I had my fun."

"You're such a dick."

Dick rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious."

"That's why you're dating me, isn't it?" said Wally, grabbing Dick's shoulders for better support to stop himself from falling over again. "Or are you just using me for my body?"

Dick's resulting laughter probably could have been heard three streets away.

"Should I be insulted, dude?"

Dick kept laughing.

"Dude?"

More laughing.

"Dude!"

Dick's laughter ended in an undignified snort. He wiped his eyes. "Sorry."

"You are not."

"Okay, I'm not. I just thought the idea of me using you for your body when you're a strong gust of wind from falling over again was pretty—" He huffed out a breath. "It was funny." Dick wound his arms around Wally's waist, pulling him closer slowly enough to avoid either of them slipping over. "But I love you anyway."

"You damn well better," Wally muttered, leaning into the embrace.

Dick kissed Wally's cold ear, tightening the ribbon on the speedster's mask. "Want me to teach you how to skate?"

"You're not gonna let me fall over and then leave me there, are you?"

"Never. Scout's honour."

"But you're not a Boy Scout."

"Oh, shh." Dick took Wally's hands again. "Let's take this slow. Bend your knees a little. Keep your body nice and relaxed."

Dick skated backwards, letting Wally using his hands to help him balance. It went well for a while, and Wally's confidence soared. He could do this.

They watched a local man try to cut across the rink and fall flat on his face. His friends just laughed and left him there. He eventually picked himself up, only to fall over again and just lie on his back for a while and let the snowflakes land on him with increasing frequency.

Wally tried to speed up a little, too distracted by Dick's smile to be worried about falling anymore. He tried to lean in for a kiss, lost his balance and pitched forward, bringing Dick down with him as well. Wally groaned and buried his face in Dick's coat, while the younger boy laughed weakly.

"You did well," he breathed, petting Wally's hair. "Well, until you tried to kiss me."

"It's your fault for being so kissable." Wally pressed his lips against Dick's before he could come up with another smartass response. Dick's eyes were a little glazed when they finally parted.

"All right, let's get off the rink." Dick pushed Wally off him and clambered to his feet.

"Awww."

"Unless you wanna try again?"

Wally grinned up at him. "Why not? You're a good teacher."

Dick helped him up, returning his grin. "You just want to hold my hands for a bit longer, don't you?"

"Guilty as charged." Wally brushed some snow out of Dick's hair. Any excuse would do.


End file.
